Safe Haven
by Sylvia Cullen
Summary: Bella's never stayed in a place for too long; always longing for some stability in her life. An accident involving her and her mom leads Bella to a family she's never known, and the lies and secrets that almost destroyed it all. AH BxE
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Mom must we really do this?" I groaned, shoving what little belongings I had into the back of my mom's ratty 2003 Ford Focus.

"Yes sweetie. Don't you just love an adventure?" she cooed, brushing a few blonde strands from her face.

"Yeah, but we were just getting settled. I actually liked Jacksonville." I grumbled, taking a final glance at our little home of a year and a half. It was actually one of the few places I liked from all the places we've been. I've lived in about twelve different cities. D.C, Chicago, New Orleans, you name it. I was just really getting to enjoy Florida, when my mother decided to move us once again, heading northwest to some unknown direction.

"I promise this will be the last place we'll move." She smiled.

"Really? Where are we going anyway?" I asked skeptically, getting inside to fasten my seatbelt.

"That's for me to know and you to find out. I have to settle a few things." She replied cryptically.

"What kind of things?" I asked looking out the window; watching yet again the remnants of our stability disappear behind us.

"Things…"

"You could at least be more specific."

"Geeze honey, what's with the third degree? Your brother isn't asking me all of these questions." She huffed.

"Mom, Andy is seven and passed out in the back seat. I think he hardly knows what's going on." I replied, gesturing to my little brother who was sound asleep in the back; his glasses askew on his nose and his mouth wide open.

"Bella, honey just trust me for a moment okay. This…this adventure can possibly change our lives." She replied glancing at me from her peripheral vision.

I closed my eyes. She had just given me the look. The look that meant that what she said was final that I had to leave it alone.

I sighed and studied my mother's face for a moment. If you were to look at her you would have never known she was a 43 year old mother to two kids. A seventeen year old at that.

My mother is just beautiful.

Renee Higginbotham is a woman with a presence. Long strawberry blond curls and piercing green eyes, she had this persona about her that just made you want to get to know her. My mother is a dreamer, an artiste as she likes to call herself. She loves to laugh and smile and just give you hugs at the most inopportune moments. She never asks for anything and constantly tries to give the ones she loves the world.

While my mother had all of these qualities that made her so lovable, I knew there were other sides to her. The gloomy side that she never let me and my brother see. She would often go off by herself and I would find her staring off into space as if in a distant memory. I even caught her a few times looking through a few photo albums that I had never seen before and when she noticed my presence would quickly hide them out of my reach.

I would also catch her staring at me sometimes. My face, my body, the texture of my curls. She never said anything, but I would notice that when she was in one of her moods, tears would well up in her eyes at the sight of me.

I never asked her why she looked at me that way. I figured it was just because I was so different than she was.

While my brother had inherited my mother's green eyes, blonde hair, and olive complexion, I was a completely different story.

My skin was the color of porcelain; with dark brown eyes, and long, wavy brown hair. I didn't even seem to share the same facial features as she did, having a widow's peak, a small nose with a slight upturn, large ears, freckles across the bridge of my nose, and long thick lashes.

Whereas she was graceful and elegant, I was clumsy and all limbs, tripping almost constantly over anything in my line of path. She was outgoing and friendly, and I was shy and kept mostly to myself.

It was no wonder that most people thought I was adopted when they caught sight of the three of us.

Again, I just assumed I must have looked like the man who contributed to my conception or I really was adopted.

I hoped it wasn't the latter.

Strangely enough, growing up my father was never really mentioned much, nor of any relationship to either side of their families. Since my mother never mentioned it, I never asked. As much as I wanted to know about how I came to be, some things were better left unknown.

Then there were the times where she retreated back into her dark place. It was a point in my life I could vividly remember. She went away for a while and I had a nice two month stay at the neighbor's house.

We don't really discuss what happened, but to make a long story short, my mother was at the wrong place at the wrong time and that event resulted in the conception and eventual birth of my brother Andy.

Today she was back to her normally cheery self and I knew better than to rain on her parade. She was obviously excited about wherever we were going.

Maybe I should try to be excited too.

….

"Belly are we there yet?" Andy asked for the millionth time.

"No Andy… or maybe yes… I don't know where "there" is." I answered. I was lounging in the back seat next to him so I could stretch my legs out. We had been in this car for the past four days and I was beginning to lose my mind. We were currently parked outside of a ratty gas station while my mom was inside getting us some snacks.

The only recollection I even had of our location was that we had entered the state of Washington. Where in Washington, I had no idea, but it seemed like everywhere we went we were surrounded by lush green foliage.

I assumed we were getting closer to our destination, because the longer we traveled the more nervous and jittery she became. Her hands would begin to shake and she would constantly finger the long strands of her hair behind her ear.

Or maybe she was just tired. This had been a strenuous trip after all.

We continued driving for another few hours venturing past a sign that read Port Angeles when it began to rain. It was a slight drizzle at first, before escalating into a heavy downpour.

My mom turned on the windshield wipers to get a clearer view but it was no use. The rain just kept pouring down. I could vaguely see another sign in the distance as we drove but it was too fuzzy to read. Just when I managed to decipher what the sign read, I heard my mother scream.

I looked out the window to see that a car was coming straight for us on the wrong side of the road.

Our side of the road.

The next thing I knew before I could even manage out a scream, our car was hydroplaning towards some trees.

I immediately wrapped my arms around my brother as our screams filled the air and then everything went black.

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I assure you there are no character deaths :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My body ached all over. That was my first thought as I opened my eyes to the white walls of the room.

I could still move my body which was good, but I noticed that I had a thick purple cast on my right arm that went all the way up to my forearm. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and quickly became disoriented. My head spun for a bit and I lost my balance. Just as I was going to hit the ground, a hand grabbed my good arm and steadied me.

"Watch it, you already broke one arm, no need to break the other." A gruff voice stated pushing me back onto the bed. I looked over at the man beside me.

"I'm Dr. Gerandy and I am your doctor that will be attending for the duration of your stay."

"Isabella?" he asked.

"Yeah?" I replied. He nodded and wrote a couple of things down.

"What day is it?" He asked.

"I don't know. It was Monday when we got here, depending on how long I've been unconscious leaves that question up to debate." I answered.

"Smart girl. Now follow the light." He gestured, flashing a small flash light in my eyes.

"Excellent. Besides your arm and a few bruises you should be good to go. That was one nasty accident" He stated.

Accident?

The accident.

I shot off the bed.

My mom? My brother? Where were they? Were they okay?

Dr. Gerandy saw the panic in my eyes and rested his hand on my shoulder.

"Relax Bella, your brother is fine. He has a small cut on his temple, but other than that he is perfectly fine." He reassured me.

"And my mother?" I pushed. Dr. Gerandy said nothing and my heart rate began to accelerate at the possibilities.

"She's alive, but barely. I think you should talk to your family about her injuries."

"Family? It's just me and my brother." I stated confusedly.

'You mean you don't know?" Dr. Gerandy asked startled.

"Know what? Just tell me where my brother is?"

"He's in the waiting room…" I didn't hear him finish as I walked out of the room in search of him.

I walked around blindly for a bit and I could hear 's voice calling out for me to come back, but I kept walking forward.

I could suddenly hear Andy's signature laughter and I knew he was close by but I just didn't know where.

"Andy?" I called out and the laughter ceased.

"Belly?" his soft voice whispered.

"Yeah Andster where are you?" I breathed. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes in relief.

I barely saw his head peek around the corner of one the walls, before I launched myself at him. I pulled his little body closer to me and breathed in his scent of fresh cut grass and sugar.

I pressed a kiss against his temple, ignoring the pain that shot through my arm. I checked his body all over for injuries and noticed the inch long cut by his ear that had two little stiches. Over it was a SpongeBob band aid.

"You like? Dr. Ger-bambi put it on me." He grinned, and I noticed that he had lost one of his front baby teeth.

"It finally came out Bella." He grinned, showing me the free tooth. I kissed his forehead.

"Yep and don't forget to put it under the pillow so the tooth fairy can give you money." I answered.

"That's exactly what Papa Karl said." Andy answered.

"Papa Karl? Who are you talking about?" I asked but didn't get an answer as a tall older man bounded over to us. His hair was grey and I could see that his eyes were the same shade as green as Andy and my mothers.

Andy ran over and gave him a hug.

"Didn't we tell you not to run off like that?" he asked.

"But it was my sissy." Andy beamed and the older man finally looked over at me. His eyes widened as he stumbled back a couple of steps.

"My god." He breathed in awe. He eyes never left my face.

"I'm Bella." I gestured out my hand for him to shake. He grabbed it uneasily and made no motion to let go.

"Uh…" I tried to pull back, but find myself wrapped in his arms. This was so odd. I could feel him weeping against my shoulder. I patted his back awkwardly.

"Uh no offense, but who exactly are you?" I asked.

He pulled back embarrassed. "Oh I'm sorry; I'm Karl, Karl Higginbotham."

"Higginbotham?" I breathed. I looked up at his face and all I could see were the features of my mother.

"That means…" I trailed off.

"That's right Bella, I'm your grandfather."

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I have a question, wouldyou like longer chapters or should I leave it drabblish meaning more updates? Let me know!

Happy 111th Birthday to our favorite vampire Edward Cullen and Happy BD prt 2 Trailer day!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I shook my head in disbelief and backed away from this strange man and grabbed Andy and pulling him towards my side. Little kids were way too trusting these days, especially for someone whom I wasn't too sure about.

"No you're not. My grandparents are dead." I shook my head once again. My mother wouldn't lie to me about that, I know she wouldn't. I may have not asked much about them growing up but I do remember her mentioning they were dead or maybe she was to them but I couldn't recall.

Still ignoring the proof that was right in front of me. I looked this Mr. Karl man in the eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry. How am I to believe you are who you say you are without any proof and I can't deal with people deceiving me right now. This stuff with my mom being here and…" my voice broke and my eyes began to water at the thought of my mom being in pain and suffering alone in some hospital room.

I had no clue what was going on with her. I wanted answers now and even now at seventeen, I wasn't afraid to admit that I just wanted my Mama.

I wanted to wrap my arms around her and have her reassure me that everything was going to be okay even though I knew it wasn't.

Mr. Karl as I was going to going to call him until I was sure of who he actually was, put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Look you don't have to believe me, but I can prove to you who I am. Here, just wait here. I am going to see if I can get any information on your mother for you okay." He ushered Andy and I into a large room with chairs and gestured for me to take a seat.

I sat down reluctantly against one of the couches where Andy curled his body against my side.

"I…" Mr. Karl cut me off with a hesitant smile. "I'll be back in a little bit; the others will be here shortly." He breathed, exiting quickly before I had the chance to ask him who the "others" were.

Andy stroked my cast-covered arm. "Is Mama going to be okay?" He asked and I could see the fear in his eyes. "Sure she will Andster." I smiled, fixing his glasses on his face that were taped together in the middle. He seemed to accept my answer, huddled closer to my side and closed his eyes.

I'm glad he was able to accept my response because even I had a hard time believing my own words as I wasn't the best liar.

I honestly didn't know what I was going to do. How was I to reassure someone when I didn't know what was going on myself.

What if my mom didn't make it out of this? There was no way I'd be able to take care of Andy and myself. I was still in high school and never had a job before. And heaven forbid if something happened to my mom and they tried to separate us, I didn't know if I could bear it.

I had to stop before I caused myself to hyperventilate. That definitely wasn't going to get me anywhere. I noticed that Andy had fallen asleep against my shoulder. He looked so peaceful and held that childlike naivety of the problems around him. I pulled his body closer to mine in fear that he would somehow disappear.

The painkillers were slowly beginning to wear off and a dull ache was beginning to spread down my arm.

My thoughts were just a jumbled mess and I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up, realizing that this was all just a bad dream and my mom would be in front of me, smelling of sunflowers and lavender; her arms grasped tightly around me as we drove off on some spontaneous trip on a new adventure.

Using Andy's soft snores as a melody to lull myself to sleep, I stretched our bodies out against the length of the couch and fell into a dreamless slumber, in hopes that this was all just some bad dream.

When I awoke what felt like minutes later, it was to the sounds of angry voices. My mouth tasted like cotton, my face ached and my arm was killing me from the pressure of Andy's body pressed against it.

A blanket had been thrown over us and I was beginning to sweat like crazy. I just wanted to throw the blanket off my body but I was too afraid to move. There were so many voices in the room and I didn't recognize a single one and I didn't want to draw any attention to myself.

Luckily, for me, we were both facing away from the people in the room so they had no way of knowing that I was awake. I evened out my breathing to feign sleep and coly tried to listen in on the conversations around me.

"Will you just calm down?" It was a young boy's voice.

"No I will not calm down." Another man's voice. Deep; husky and unrecognizable to my ears. His voice seemed to be the loudest of them all and made my ears hurt.

"All these years and now she shows up. After what she did." The man's voice cracked on the end.

"Honey just relax." This time it was a female's voice that answered. Her tone was much softer although I could hear the concern in her voice.

"How are you holding up dad?" Another male asked and I wondered just how many men were in this room. It made me uncomfortable and fearful of not being aware of my surroundings.

"Confused, concerned. It's not every day that your ex shows up. I don't even think I should be here, we're not even married." This "dad" person answered.

"And with her bastard kids in tow." A female's voice quipped. Her voice was high pitched and sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"Hey that's not right and you know it. I mean have you seen the picture Pops sent to us of the little one? He's the spinning image of Jasper as a child and don't act like you didn't see it." Another voice argued. I wondered who this Jasper person was and wondered what he had to do with my baby brother.

"And lord knows what the other one looks like. Probably like her bastard of a father." The response must have not pacified the woman because the room erupted into another round of arguing.

I heard the door open once more and more voices enter the room. The voices sounded like they were getting louder and were making my head hurt even more.

I thought hospitals were supposed to be quiet, but then again I wasn't sure of a lot of things lately.

At the same time, I felt a soft but wrinkled hand brush against my face. I could tell it was a woman from the soft perfume that overwhelmed my senses. It reminded me of the baby blanket I had as a child. It used to comfort me when I was afraid and mom retreated into herself. It was so reassuring to me that I almost leaned further into her touch.

"Will you guys quiet down? You guys are arguing loud enough to wake the dead and it isn't solving anything. You guys are all worried about yourselves instead of the babies here."

I was right, it was a woman. Her voice was soft but stern as she continued brushing her hand against my face.

"Grams, I don't know what you're doing but I can see you getting attached. They're not even related to us." The same female's voice from earlier huffed.

"And how would you know?" This Gram woman retorted back. She continued to brush her hand against my face hitting a particular sore spot against my temple causing me to let out a soft whimper of pain.

"Bella?" Andy's voice moaned in my ear. I could feel him sit up and I slightly opened my eyes to him looking around the room in fear as he rubbed his eyes. His blonde hair was matted on one side of his face and his glasses were hanging on the edge of his nose. I could see his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

I tried to sit up which was particularly difficult with a 48 lb. seven year old on your chest. I felt him get off me and slowly sat up, cradling my arm to my chest.

My hair was plastered with sweat against my face and my vision a little hazy as I tried to open my eyes fully.

Once my vision cleared, I moved my hair from my face and looked around the crowded room meeting the eyes of a large group of people who stared at me in awe and bewilderment and a man who looked like he was going to be sick.

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